2019 Kentucky GOAP internship applications now available

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy (GOAP) is accepting applications for the 2019 summer internship program.

Interns will be exposed to multiple facets of the agriculture industry and be tasked with meaningful work. The primary focus of this internship is to develop success stories highlighting programs and projects funded by the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund. Interns will have the opportunity travel the state to attend meetings and events.

The internship is for currently enrolled college students who are interested in pursuing a career in agriculture. It will run from May-August, depending on the intern’s school schedule, and is a full-time paid position with the option to receive college credit. Travel will be required.

For more information or to apply, go to https://agpolicy.ky.gov or contact Marielle McElmurray at Marielle.McElmurray@ky.gov or 502-782-1731. Applications are due by Jan. 7.

Apply now for opportunity at a CAB Colvin scholarship

ONAGA, Kan. — Students already helping lead the beef community could win a share of $33,500 by applying online for the Certified Angus Beef (CAB) brand’s Colvin Scholarship. The Fund has awarded more than $250,000 to 76 college juniors, seniors and graduate students since 1999.

The program honors Louis M. “Mick” Colvin, CAB co-founder and executive director for its first 22 years, for his vision and tireless efforts in support of the brand becoming a reality. After his retirement, the fund was established to carry on his legacy of achieving dreams and inspiring others.

 Five juniors or seniors already making a positive impact will be awarded $7,500, $6,500, $5,000, $4,000 or $3,000 this spring. Applications, due by Jan. 18, must include two letters of recommendation and two essays, with up to 500 words on career path choices and up to 1,000 words on how CAB could best differentiate itself from nearly 150 other Angus brands or programs.

To apply, visit the brand’s “Careers” webpage at www.certifiedangusbeef.com/recruiting and click on the link in the “Scholarship and Seminar Opportunities” section.

A graduate-level scholarship of $7,500 is available to those pursuing applied or basic research and a degree related to high-quality beef production. To apply, graduates should submit a report outlining details of their research.

First-place undergraduate and graduate winners also receive an all-expense-paid trip to the 2019 CAB Annual Conference in Asheville, N.C. Winners will be notified in March.

UT welcomes Grove as assistant professor, wildlife veterinarian

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The University of Tennessee Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries recently gained new faculty with the hire of Daniel Grove, DVM. His position, extension assistant professor and wildlife veterinarian, is a new appointment and will extend extension coverage and resources related to wildlife health across the state.

His office is located at the Central Region extension office in Nashville, where he works closely with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). His primary duties involve educational outreach for public and private audiences in Tennessee and beyond, and providing technical guidance to TWRA wildlife health programs.

This position will allow Grove to address and mitigate diseases that affect wildlife, domestic animals and humans such as chronic wasting disease, avian influenza and white-nose syndrome, among others.

Eastern Kentucky University unveils robotic milking system

RICHMOND, Ky. — Eastern Kentucky University staff, Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy (GOAP) staff, Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, state and local officials and members of the community attended a ribbon-cutting and tour of the EKU’s new state-of-the-art robotic milking system last month.

EKU received $179,373 in Kentucky Agricultural Development Funds to purchase and install an Automated Milking System (AMS) for demonstration, education and research at its Meadowbrook Farm.

“Technology is constantly upgrading agriculture. Who would have ever thought that cows could be milked without the dairyman going to the barn? Cows are milking themselves,” said Warren Beeler, executive director of GOAP.

In partnership with the Kentucky Dairy Development Council, EKU’s Meadowbrook Farm hopes to improve economic prospects for dairy farmers by increasing exposure of this technology to Kentucky producers. The robotic milking system will benefit both existing dairy farmers across the state as well as agriculture students studying dairy production.

For more information, contact Justin McKinney at 859-622-2061 or justin.mckinney@eku.edu

Applications open for university-level agriscience competition

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Since its inception in 2005, the Alltech Young Scientist (AYS) has had participation of more than 60,000 students from more than 70 countries and has awarded $1 million in prizes. Applications are now open for the 2019 competition.

The Alltech Young Scientist competition began in 2005 as an expression of founder Dr. Pearse Lyons’ passion for curiosity and innovation within education. Most importantly, he wanted to inspire and showcase the talents of university students who represent tomorrow’s solutions for our planet’s shared future.

New for 2019, the AYS competition is open exclusively to university graduate students (master’s degree and Ph.D.), and professor nominations are no longer required. Entrants will compete first within their home regions of North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific or Europe/Africa. Regional winners will be invited to attend an all-expenses-paid Alltech Young Scientist Discovery Week in Lexington, where they will compete in the global competition during ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE19) in May. The prizes include $10,000 for the global graduate winner.

Registration will close on Jan. 31. Students may submit scientific papers on topics such as animal health and nutrition, crop science, agriculture analytical methods, food chain safety and traceability, human health and nutrition and other agriscience-related sectors. Paper submission may be completed online, and regional winners will be announced in April.

For more information and to register, visit AlltechYoungScientist.com

New Tennessee dean for AgResearch to take helm in May

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture has named Hongwei Xin, currently assistant dean for research in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University, as UT’s new dean for AgResearch. Xin will begin his new role in May 2019, after the conclusion of the current academic year.

Hongwei comes to UT with an international reputation for research and academic leadership. His work has had major impacts on U.S. and global animal agriculture and has produced significant contributions to scientific literature and engineering practices related to animal production systems. He has served as the principal or co-principal investigator of more than $23.7 million in competitive grants and contracts for research, extension and education programs.

In addition to serving as assistant dean at ISU, Xin is the director of the Egg Industry Center (EIC), interim director of the Iowa Nutrient Research Center and a Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in the departments of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE) and Animal Science.

Before joining ISU in 1993, he spent more than three years as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Arkansas conducting broiler housing research.

Fred Tompkins, former head of the Department of Biosystems Engineering, former president and CEO of the UT Research Foundation and former director of the Office of Oak Ridge Operations for the UT System, has been serving as interim dean since April 9, 2018.

USPOULTRY awards $6,918 grant to Middle Tennessee State

TUCKER, Ga. — The USPOULTRY Foundation awarded a $6,918 student recruiting grant to Middle Tennessee State University. The grant was made possible in part by an endowing Foundation gift from the Hubbard Farms Charitable Foundation.

The funds will be used to develop three additional poultry courses, host the first annual Middle Tennessee Junior Market Broiler program, create a new MTSU Poultry Science Club and develop a MTSU collegiate poultry judging team.

The USPOULTRY Foundation awarded recruiting grants totaling $328,300 for the 2018-19 school year to 34 colleges and universities across the United States with either a poultry science department or a poultry studies program.

College ag advocates take home scholarships for holidays

ARLINGTON, Va. — Six college students and three collegiate clubs are taking home scholarships for the holidays for being exceptional advocates for agriculture. The Animal Agriculture Alliance’s College Aggies Online (CAO) scholarship competition awarded more than $25,000 to students and clubs this year.

The collegiate club winners include, in first place for a $2,500 scholarship, the WIU Ag Club at Western Illinois University. They receive an all expenses-paid trip to the Alliance’s 2019 Stakeholders Summit May 8-9 in Kansas City.